09a transmission stuck in low gear

tgray

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I have a 2005 BEW Golf with the 09a tiptronic transmission. The car has about 180,000. When the car first starts the transmission works normal. It shifts properly and feels fine. As it warms up then it starts acting up. It will stay in 1st and refuse to shift to another gear unless it hits about 5,000 rpms or not at all. Reverse works fine
All the other threads I read, speak of this happening sticking happening after before it is warmed up - mine happens only after warm. I know the previous owner changed the valve body - probably with a used one and I even have the old one. Not sure what it was doing before as I was told the trans worked fine now. It does, but only when cold.
Anyone have an idea? It does only throw the code 00652 Gear monitoring - implausible signal, but only after it sticks in low. The temp reading on the VAG looks right. The other weird thing is the VAG screen jumps back and forth from giving me readings on things like group 2 or 3 between "error" and "normal readings" when the RPM's are raised. Am I thinking correctly, the internals should be fine and that code is because it is expecting a shift and then nothing happens? Anyone see solenoids stick when warm? Maybe a wire harness? It seems the problem is fairly consistent with the car up on jacks. I can shift up and down the gears as normal and then it goes weird as it warms up just a little.
 

Nero Morg

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Are you able to manually shift up in tip mode? Or is it still stuck in first? Kind of sound like low fluid.
 

tgray

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Only will shift in tip mode when cold. Trouble follows with the automatic mode. The dash indicator shows it going to the next gear but nothing happens.
 

Nero Morg

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Manual swap would definitely be the way to go, but just in case that's out of the question... Check the fluid level, hopefully it's just low.
 

tgray

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I already have a 5 speed to swap. The issue is the car is for someone who needs an automatic. And I don't want to do all the work for something simple. I will check the fluid level when I get a chance.
 

tgray

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I am pretty busy to check the level properly but put in under a half quart of oil and no change. Then the rest of what was in the partial quart can I had and didn't seem to change much of anything. I did notice it seemed to work fine until it nears the engine operating temp and then deteriorates. The car will shift sometimes now but seems to skip from maybe second to 4th or 5th as I wind up the RPMs. It seems to shift some better in regular mode but will not do much in the "tip" mode. I am wondering if something like the pump is worn and when it gets warm the pressures drop. It works so good until warm and then fails to shift right. Is there an external pressure point I can put a gauge on? I will check the actual level better when I get a chance.
 

tgray

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Checked the oil level and it actually is pretty close to where it needs to be and does seem a little better but things fall apart when up to operation temp. It will act like there is no second gear. Rev up to 2.5 or 3 and then go into 3rd or 4th and then 5th. It is like 2nd or 3rd on not on the scale. Not sure what to think but maybe a crack in a piston or something that looses pressure when warm. The problem is consistent with temperature of the transmission. Unless there are no ideas from anyone it is time to pull it out and see what is inside. The fluid looks and smells good.
 

Nero Morg

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Well, I'd start with what the previous owner messed with. Valve body. Easy-ish to get to.
 

tgray

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That is what I am thinking I might try. I have a new set of solenoids I can install on the original valve body and see if there is any change. The strange thing is I don't see hardly anyone else with this condition. Everyone else on the forums I see talk about it being a problem when cold.
 

Nero Morg

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And I've experienced issues with them cold before. Only suggestion I have is make sure to use a beam style or digital torque wrench to torque the valve body, versus a click style, as you can over torque them a little. And yes that little bit does make a difference. CoolAirVW has a neat video showing how a little bit over tightened can cause the spool valves to stick.
 

tgray

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You are making me wonder if the guy that worked on it did something like that? I have a quality inch pound torque wrench and you don't think it is good if I am real careful?
 

tgray

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Thanks for the link. I did see this one a long time ago and changed out a rebuilt om1 from CoolAir. Just was not sure if the over torque issue was the same on the 09a.
 

tgray

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The more I think about this it seems something is leaking internal and looses pressure when warm. It is totally temp related when it fails and very consistent failure when the oil temp warms up. For all the work, I have another transmission I am going to pull from another car and install. It looks like this one has been rebuilt so a chance it will work better than the one in the golf. If not it will make someone a nice fairly rust free 5 speed golf. The other car is an '04 wagon with a real nice red body. If someone is looking for a good swap for their rusted out or wrecked sedan it would be a good project. It is tempting to put in an ALH with a 5 speed sitting in my shop.
 

tgray

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It shifts fine now all the time. I swapped another good transmission into the car. Someday when things are caught up I will tear down the transmission and post what I find and post the results.
 

tgray

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I pulled the front pan and valve body out. Things looked good inside for what I see but I found a lot of thick sludge up top of the pan. Looks like water mixed with the fluid. Would a little water in the fluid make it fail when warm? Maybe the cooler is leaking or something.
 

tgray

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Now to make a sad story worse. The car shifted fine on the blocks but when I took it out for a spin the new trans I thought was good has other issues.
I has a very bad flare shift from 2-3 and every other shift slams into gear. This all happens when warm or cold. Before I give up and put the 5 speed in does anyone have a clue if the new trans is toast? Once it does go into second it does hold but sure takes a long time pulling into 3rd and the engine revs way up.
Also, I found the previous guy who put the Valve body in the original transmission used silicone form-a-gasket to seal the rubber seals. I wonder if that is why it was loosing pressure as the stuff disintegrates in the hot oil and seals worse than nothing.
 

tgray

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Also, no codes showed up with the little driving I did.
 

tgray

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OK problem solved on the transmission I put into the car. Unbelievable STUPID with bold caps of what I found. Whoever had this car the transmission came from seems to have put a completely rebuilt transmission in with a new torque converter - I even see they put in a brand new harness so it must have been a quality job. But then the owner hit something with the left side of the transmission and damaged the housing/cover. Or it was pulled from another wrecked car. I saw some silicone sealant and thought it just covered up a small bump in the cover. Instead it broke out the whole oil pressure line that runs down to the accumulator on the cover. His solution was to stop the leak by drilling and tapping some bolts for plugs in the oil passage way and then covered it all up neatly with sealer. I swapped out the cover with the other transmission and it shifts like new. The good part was the inside was spotless clean and the fluid looked like it came right off the shelf. It is beyond understanding how someone with the skill to plug up the leak and make it look like it even had the original bolt sticking out, makes me wonder if someone wanted to dump the car and put it through the auction block as it would still lot drive fine. Anyway, good info to understand what this caused - slamming into all gears when shifting except when it shifted to 3rd it had a horrible long slip before it locked into gear.
 
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